Full day or half day tour through Thunderbird Lodge? I will be there in August but I am used to heat because I live in Phoenix. But here is my question. Do I sit in the back of an open jeep for 8 hours in 100 degree weather or do I take the half day tour and drive the rim afterwards? Is the full day tour worth sitting in the hot sun?

We did the half day at the end of May when it was only about 80 degrees out. We had just done the all day boat tour on Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge just days before so we didn't think we would be up to this all day tour...BUT I wish we had.... then again it wasn't as hot as in the summer. If you don't take the all day tour, you don't get to the base of Spider Woman...that must be awsome!
http://users3.ev1.net/~rhuseth2/Ariz...CdCsrsro04.htm

You can see it from the south rim road.

BTW, do you know that in the summer they call this the "Shake and Bake" tour!

Utahtea

We enjoyed the half day trip last September and regret that we didn't have the time to do the full day tour.
After being in the Canyon, we started to drive the rim, but it wasn't as awesome.

We saw the canyon only from the rim and regret that we didn't have time for the tour. Canyon de Chelly is a beautiful place.

Did the all day tour 5 years ago. We thoughly enjoyed it. It will be extremelly hot. Bring a hat, and sunscreen.They do provide water but I would still bring some water bottles.

We recently took a half day tour with a private jeep-just the two of us- and we negotiated at the Holiday Inn just outside entrance to Canyon. IT cost 125 I think and we felt it was well worth it. They don't offer these tours at Thunderbird. OUr driver called the Thundrerbird truck "Shake and Roll" or something like that. Sitting on the backend of a truck with all those people sure didn't look very comfortable nor anything I would have wanted to do. You can get an enclosed jeep etc. Good Luck! (Our driver was extremely informative and I should think three hours would be enough time. Perhaps if you know exactly what you want to see you could work that out with the driver.

We did the full day tour last March from Thunderbird Lodge. It was well worth it, I and would definitely recommend the full day trip. The weather was cool in March, they even provided blankets, which were needed. But I imagine in August you'll need sunglasses, sunscreen and a large hat.
There's a reason why they call the trip "Shake and Bake".
Enjoy
Gilbert

The half day trip was fine for us. It was so peaceful and absolutely stunning down in the canyon and our guide was wonderful. You can check out my reports and photos at

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/58bd4/4fc/